Recent statements coming from one of Russia’s highest-ranking military commanders indicate that America and Israel plan to go ahead with war on Iran despite the release of the National Intelligence Estimate late last year.

Russia’s military chief of staff General Yuri Baluyevsky threatened the use of nuclear weapons in case of a major threat. He said that, although they have no plans of attacking anyone, they nevertheless “consider it necessary for everyone around the world community to clearly understand, that to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia and its allies, military forces will be used, including, preventively, the use of nuclear weapons.”

His statements (which can only have been made in concert with the overall policies established by his boss President Vladimir Putin) come a week after George Bush’s visit to the Persian Gulf, in which he attempted to rally the nations in that region around U.S. and Israeli plans of “confronting Iran’s nuclear program before it is too late.”

Baluyevsky’s statement, despite the stark and apocalyptic themes pervading it, comes as no surprise. Over the course of the past year, Russia has taken on an increasingly aggressive defensive posture with regard to the West as a result of what it sees as an overall plan of encircling her with NATO forces that threaten her existence.

Russia has resumed long-range bomber patrols (halted with the fall of the Soviet Union), sometimes coming within inches of NATO airspace. She has pulled out of several treaties with the West limiting the size of Russian military forces on Europe’s eastern flank. Incensed at the U.S. plan of using new NATO member nations in Eastern Europe as a staging area for missile defense systems (said to be a necessary defense against Iran), Russia has developed and successfully test fired new missiles—both land- and sea-launched. Russia claims they are sophisticated enough to trump any U.S. missile shield.

Beginning in December (after the release of the NIE), Russia began delivering the nuclear fuel supplies promised to Iran according to their agreement. As of this moment, four shipments have been made totaling 45 tons of the estimated 80 tons necessary for the Bushehr facility to begin refinement.

Israel is furious, as evidenced by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s recent meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov where she called the fuel deliveries “inconceivable.”

What is of particular importance in General Baluyevsky’s statement is his mention of “defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of, not just Russia, but her “allies” as well. Russia has not, as of this moment, signed formal mutual defense agreements with nations such as Iran and Syria.

Both are on Israel and America’s list of countries targeted for destruction. Both are important trading partners occupying Russia’s peripheries and therefore a first-line defense of Russian territory.

Throughout this nightmare in the Middle East, Russia has demonstrated a sane and rational character. By contrast, Israel and the United States under the administration of George Bush, have been irrational and unpredictable. Iraq and Afghanistan are unmitigated disasters and the fact that neither the U.S. nor Israel has learned from these disasters proves they are dangerous to all nations seen as uncooperative in the drive for U.S. and Israeli world hegemony.

Indeed, Putin recently compared Bush to a “maniac running around threatening everyone with a razor.”

A former schoolteacher fluent in several languages, Mark Glenn spoke at the AFP-TBR conference on the Middle East panel. He is a prolific writer whose provocative essays have been published worldwide. He and his wife Vicki and their eight children maintain a ranch in northern Idaho. His book, No Beauty in the Beast, can be ordered from TBR BOOK CLUB (1-877-773-9077) for $28 ppd.